Built for Scale: The Strategy Behind Summit’s New Jersey Takeover

Summit’s rapid expansion in the state reveals how patience, strategy and culture can drive explosive growth.

For a company named Speeders Car Wash, it might sound on brand to go from zero locations to 22 in less than a year’s time in a new market. What looks like aggressive and swift expansion was actually the result of a slow, deliberate process by parent company Summit Wash Holdings that has led to Speeders becoming the largest car wash group in New Jersey.

It began three years ago, when Summit was formed through a partnership with Russell Speeder’s Car Wash, a family-owned car wash platform founded in 1963. The brand Speeders was born and New Jersey was chosen as the launching pad.

A long runway to rapid growth

“From the get-go, it was identified as a continuous market that we wanted to expand in. So really, three and a half years before we got enough traction and momentum,” says Jason Baumgartner, chief revenue officer at Summit.

“New Jersey is a very densely populated state. There are a lot of people. There are a lot of cars,” adds Reed Taylor, senior vice president of mergers and acquisitions and transformation for Summit. “As a result of there being a lot of people, there is strong earning potential for the people in New Jersey. So discretionary income to spend on things like car wash memberships is obviously an important part of success of the membership model and car wash. And moving quickly in any market allows you to establish a brand presence very quickly.”

Instead of building from scratch, Summit’s team did its research, casting nets in certain areas in New Jersey to create density, and identified properties with the potential to sell. Taking over an existing business in pockets of geography, fully staffed with employees who know the job, have relationships with customers and are already part of the community provided a faster path to scale. They participated in industry events like car wash tours to connect with brokers and owners. They looked at close to 40 to 50 sites assessing factors like financials, the current state of the equipment, layout (will there be enough room to add express vacuums?), demographics of locations, traffic counts, nearby retail (grocery stores, pharmacies and other places customers visit regularly) and more.

Buying density, not just locations

“Initially looking into New Jersey, it seemed like it was going to be a little bit more difficult, just because New Jersey is filled with mom-and-pop locations,” says Collin Strilka, regional president in New Jersey for Summit. “A lot of towel-drying, full service. A majority of our portfolio is express locations and free vacuums. So going into it, there was an ‘aha’ moment where you're able to see all these different car washes and you can kind of tell that they've been run down and abused. Not a lot of capital put back into them. The equipment is getting old and it's broken down. So, we're able to see an opportunity where not a lot of other car washes have been able to put capital back into those locations to ensure that they're fully operational. It seemed like a really good opportunity to get in here. And it seems like it's kind of an untapped market, if you will.”

Summit wasn’t only looking to buy existing car washes and renovate them as needed. They also sought out operators that were in the market and had built their businesses, to partner with. The March acquisition of CJ’s Car Wash exemplifies this tactic, partnering with business owners who had already transformed assets into 11 established, high-volume locations.

Summit is taking its time turning its New Jersey properties into Speeders. The rebrand process has been a phased approach. Depending on geography, site condition, and availability of its team, the conversion is happening in stages to avoid disrupting the operation and build brand consistency. That means some car washes may continue to operate under their original name as new elements are phased in. Within the year, though, customers will see the full transformation of signage, color themes and other aspects of visual identity. Employees received new uniforms and assurances.

Moving quickly in any market allows you to establish a brand presence very quickly.

—Reed Taylor

“We were able to come in and ensure that no one has anything to worry about, [including] losing their job. It’s going to be a slow transition. You guys are already doing a lot of things that we already do. It’s not going to be a huge change to you guys. And we actually believe that you're going to really like our implementation of these different items that we roll out at these locations to make your job, not only better, but more fun. And we've had a lot of great feedback so far,” Strilka says.

Culture as a growth strategy

Fun is a pillar of Speeders’ workplace culture. Summit’s Chief Executive Officer Dan Pittman emphasizes the company’s people-first mindset. Building memberships and taking care of customers are central, from a kind greeting to reminders of their free amenities. An incentive for top customer service is an invite to the Summit 500, a NASCAR-themed event for 50 hourly employees. They’re flown to Scottsdale, Arizona, for a two-day celebration full of friendly competition, tours of local sites and immersive experiences like riding in Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

“One of my visions when I started with the company is to create 3,000 of the best jobs in the industry. If we do that, it trickles all down,” Pittman says. “Going all the way back down to you pulling up to a car wash. Now you're comfortable, you're pulling in, you're not afraid to vacuum your car, because you know how it works and somebody explained it to you. There's fun music. People are smiling. They're happy to be there. That's the culture that we're trying to build in, and we invest in it.”

Being hungry, humble and smart are other cornerstones of Summit’s employee experience. The company believes strongly in developing leaders and promoting from within. Strilka’s career path is a reflection of this. He started just out of high school as a rapid waxer at a car wash in Omaha previously owned by Kevin Matthews, then an independent car wash owner turned-current president and chief operating officer of Summit. Strilka consistently signed up for extra shifts, worked at other locations to learn about the business and the mechanical side — to the point he could help install equipment. As Matthews’ company grew and ultimately partnered with private equity, which led to Summit, Strilka was promoted to assistant manager, managing partner and founder, and ultimately the role he has now.

Summit boasted the strategy is working, retention is high and turnover is low. So far, the company has gained 385 employees in New Jersey. And when it comes to management, turnover is at just 2.5%.

While the surge in New Jersey has been impressive, it hasn’t come without challenges, especially when it came to timing. The deal with CJ’s is an example. Initially when the paperwork was prepared and the agreement was set, the deal fell through. It took another year before the deal was finalized. Taylor credits Summit’s commitment to building relationships for making it happen.

“We were right at the finish line, and then it wasn't the right time for the deal to go through. And, we obviously didn't burn any bridges because it did come back around. We take an approach, and I think it's paid dividends over the long term of just, because it's not now doesn't mean it's not ever, right? And there's people we've gotten to know who have said to us, ‘I'm never selling, I'm never selling.’ And then it shifts to, ‘Well, maybe I would sell’ to ‘I think I'm ready to sell,’” Taylor says.

Even when deals closed, timing remained unpredictable. Issues with permitting, entitlements and zoning added another layer of complexity. No two sites were the same, which means different renovations, different repairs and varying lengths of time before work was approved and completed. Inside-the-building renovations have a different approval process and timeline than site layout renovations. For example, adding pay stations, canopies and gates is considered a site plan modification, for which a zoning attorney is needed. That added 12 to 18 months for approval, almost as long as it takes to build a new car wash. To get up and running, cones were set up at one of the new locations and employees with tablets solved the pay station need.

“It's hard to get permits,” says Baumgartner. “You have to really know what you're doing, and you have to be committed for the long term. It's not something you can just decide to be in New Jersey and then show up and be in New Jersey. This plan to be in New Jersey was years in the making before we actually were able to build some roots and connections and see the type of growth that we saw in 2025.”

Summit’s robust growth was also an exercise in restraint. Some locations were ideal and had the supporting elements that they were looking for. But it didn’t check all the boxes.

“Just because we can make anything work, doesn't mean that we buy everything. We are selective. So, if the flow cannot be adjusted, and it has really poor flow and we're not able to get the throughput in terms of volume, then we're going to pass on that location. Because if we can't build it to a certain membership count … membership count and total volume go hand in hand. If I have 5,000 members, and they wash, on average, three times a month, I need to have a site that can hold that capacity. If there's like zero chance of us reworking the flow in order to achieve that, then we're going to pass on it. I think discipline in what you don't do matters as much as what you do,” says Matthews.

When growth meets reality

As deals were made and sites were collected, the rapid pace overwhelmed the Summit team at times.

“Anybody who has been through a sale of a business knows the volume of paperwork required to get a transaction done. It can be an exhausting process for buyer and seller,” Taylor says. “I think it tired out some folks who were dealing with the cleanup of integration. There's a lot of onboarding in human resources. There's a lot of bringing in new fleet accounts and putting them into our process. They're details, but they're important details. When you do that volume of acquisitions in a short period of time, it can put pressure on existing processes, which I think was good. It forced us to figure out how to make those processes more efficient and easier for both buyer and seller. And we've gotten a lot better at that over the last 18 months, as we've done a higher volume of acquisitions.”

All of this experience feeds into a playbook Summit has compiled. It includes some seemingly commonsensical, but important, reminders like communication.

Communication is critical between all stakeholders. When it breaks down, it can lead to some big disruptions. At one location, Taylor recalls the seller thought Summit had already turned on its internet access, so he turned off his account. Summit had not yet gone through the process to establish internet connection. But no one had discussed it. So during a high-volume Saturday, the internet suddenly stopped working. Credit cards couldn’t be processed. There was a line around the building and down the block as all systems were locked out.

Most of the Summit leaders who shared their insights for this case study started out in other jobs in the car wash industry. Pittman and Matthews did car detailing in college. Strilka started out as a rapid waxer. Taylor owned an independent car wash in Connecticut until Summit bought it in 2023. They’re proud of their long-time roots in the industry and described the New Jersey progress in different ways.

“It’s very, very high paced, constantly. Something happening every single day, whether it's focusing on a new merger and acquisition, or trying to ramp current existing locations. A lot of moving parts are happening at once so we have to ensure that we're being strategic on where we're putting our time because there's a lot of priorities to focus on. It’s very chaotic, but it's what I kind of like to call controlled chaos,” Strilka says.

“The conditions were right for us to have this explosive growth over the last 12 months,” Taylor says.

Borrowing a football analogy, “I would call it a very organized, well thought out defensive coordinator blitz,” says Pittman.

A few takeaways from Summit’s experience: growth, regardless of speed, requires discipline, not just capital. Timing preferences don’t always align. Permitting processes can vary greatly. And knowing what not to pursue can be just as important as the acquisitions that are completed.

“I think the speed at which we grew in New Jersey to all of a sudden be, within 12 months, the largest car wash operator in a state that we didn't have existing stores is pretty heroic,” Matthews says. “It says something about the speed and agility of our organization, and being able to do things like that without the entire thing breaking is a monumental achievement.”